Governor Rick Scott today visited Sheehan Buick GMC today, Feb. 10, to highlight his commitment to undo the 54 percent tax increase Florida families saw in 2009 to annually register motor vehicles in the “It’s Your Money Tax Cut Budget.”

Governor Scott said, “We are going to undo the 54 percent tax increase Floridians saw in 2009 to annually register their motor vehicles. Florida families deserve to keep more of the money they earn because it has never been government’s money- it’s your money. We are building an opportunity economy in Florida and our commitment to roll back these taxes and fees will let families keep more of the money they make so they can invest in their future.”

Tom Sheehan, President, Sheehan Buick GMC said,  “We are thrilled that Governor Scott came to Sheehan Buick GMC to make his tax cut announcement.  We applaud Governor Scott for his commitment to making sure Floridians keep more of the money they earn.”

On average, families will see the annual registration costs drop from about $71 today to $46 next September. That is an average decrease in costs of about $25 for Florida families. Annually, this reduction will result in $400 million of savings for Florida families.

Click to here read the Governor’s “It’s Your Money Tax Cut Budget.”

By Gary Curreri

The Highlands Christian Academy and Deerfield Beach high school boys’ soccer teams reached the postseason this season with high expectations.

Highlands Christian (13-6) won the district title and made it to the regional semifinals for the first time since 2006 when it fell to Palmer Trinity, 3-1. The Knights were ousted in the regional quarters in the five appearances since then.

Unfortunately for the Knights, Sagemont (18-7-1) advanced to the regional finals with a 4-0 victory over host Highlands Christian on Tuesday night.

Sophomore Carlos Pan gave the Lions a 1-0 halftime lead when he scored on a header in the 21st minute. Freshman Karl Ackermann scored the first of three second half goals for Sagemont off a cross by junior Marco Wehrhahn in the 53rd minute. Sagemont added its own goal and a final tally by freshman Braedon Villano to end Highlands’ season. Ryan Theimer recorded 13 saves in his sixth shutout of the year.

Highlands Christian Academy coach Darryl Mauro said he was pleased with his team’s performance, especially considering his team had just three full time soccer players. He was also happy to coach with his son Daniel, an HCA graduate, who won national titles while at Clearwater Christian College.

“We had two players, Lucas Almeida and Caleb Bien- Aime finish with 17 goals and double figures with assists and our goalkeeper, Zach Mueller finished with nine clean sheets (shutouts),” Mauro said. “Sophomores Elijah Kerr, Evan Henderson, and Vitor Lima both improved on both sides of the ball and newcomers Brandly Martina, Ayrton Barbolinea, Ray Melfor all played a big role in our postseason run.”

Deerfield Beach made its fourth appearance in the playoffs in school history under Coach Frantz Edouard – 2009, 2012, 2013 were the others – and fell to Boca Raton last Thursday night in the regional quarterfinals thanks to a topflight performance by the Bobcats’ Sebastian Elney, who spent last year with the U.S. Soccer Under-17 residency program in Bradenton.

Elney had three goals in the contest to lead host Boca Raton (21-1-2) to a 3-0 victory over Deerfield Beach in the Class 5A boys’ soccer regional quarterfinal. Boca Raton advanced to this Friday’s regional final after defeating Douglas, 3-0 on Tuesday night.

Deerfield Beach (18-3-4) had the better play in the early going with nothing to show for it. Boca Raton goalkeeper Collin Foody made three saves for his 11th shutout of the season.

The Bucks’ best chance to score came in the 68th minute when Matheus Pereira took a free kick that Foody got a hand on. The ball deflected to Romilaire Ambrose, whose shot was headed off the goal line by defender Aaron Kleinert.

“We are disappointed,” said Deerfield Beach soccer coach Frantz Edouard. “The first goal hurt, but the second one broke our back. We had a great season. The number 23 (Elney) was the difference maker for them.”

Edouard’s team had the harder road in the playoffs as it finished runner-up in the district to Douglas.

“It didn’t work out,” Edouard said. “Obviously, we had a good season, not a great season, because we wanted to advance far in the playoffs. We have been here before, but we haven’t been able to get over the hump. It’s a bit of a disappointing season for us.”

Edouard, who is in his eighth year at the school, believes his team will be in the postseason again and expects his team to go far.

“We graduate about four or five players, but honestly the core of the team will be back again next year,” Edouard said. “Hopefully, we will be back … and be victorious.”

By Gary Curreri

If Blanche Ely’s boys’ basketball team is to win its third consecutive Class 7A state championship, the road may lead through Lauderdale Lakes and District 14-7A rival Boyd Anderson.

Blanche Ely (18-2), the state’s third-ranked team in the latest Florida Association of Basketball Coaches (FABC)-Source Hoops state rankings, has dropped just two games all season – both to the Cobras (17-3), who are ranked second in the state. Apopka’s Wekiva High School (19-3) holds down the top state ranking in Class 7A.

Blanche Ely opened the season with 13 consecutive wins including the prestigious Chick-Fil-A Classic in Columbia, South Carolina. Junior Therrell Gosier led his team to the Chick-Fil-A Classic II Championship with 24 points, 18 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. The Tigers won 81-75 in overtime over South Pointe (Rock Hill, SC).

Less than a week later, Blanche Ely dropped its first contest of the year to Boyd Anderson in overtime at the D-Hop Classic at Palm Beach Lakes High School. The Cobras rallied from a 63-59 deficit with 49 seconds left to tie the game and force overtime. That loss ended a Blanche Ely streak of 46 wins in a row against Broward County opponents and 52 wins in a row against Florida teams.

“There were some great teams in the D-Hop with Boyd Anderson, and Palm Beach Lakes in our region,” said Blanche Ely coach Melvin Randall. “I think there are some pretty good teams in Central Florida, but the best teams reside down here in South Florida.”

The state rankings bear that out with Palm Beach Lakes (16-5) fifth in the poll and Dwyer (18-5) sixth in the FABC-Source Hoops state rankings.

Just three weeks later, Boyd Anderson handed the Tigers its second loss of the season as it battled back from a ninepoint deficit in the third quarter to pull out a 65-57 victory.

Randall said he expects his team to improve for the stretch run and credited the leadership of seniors Lance Tejada II and Joshua Floyd, in addition to Gozier.

“Their leadership is helping raise these young ones to William Nightingale get to where we need to be,” said Randall, whose team defeated Boyd Anderson, 78- 75, in overtime on Nov. 30. “I think they are doing a tremendous job.”

Floyd was at Westminster Academy last year, while Javon Heastie transferred in from Dillard. Boyd Anderson has two transfers of its own in Rodney Simeon from Miami Central and Dondre Duffus from Wellington High School.

Both teams were competing in the BCAA Big 8 tournament where Blanche Ely is the defending champion. Results of Wednesday night’s games were unavailable at press time. The District playoffs begin next week.

By Rachel Galvin

(Below: Fallen Navy Seal James Suh, part of Operation Red Wings, depicted in the film “Lone Survivor.”)

On Jan. 15, Dr. Brian Rask held a fundraiser for the James Suh Scholarship at Paragon Theater in Deerfield Beach. The event included a screening of the film “The Lone Survivor,” a raffle, a 50/50 drawing, sports and other memorabilia for sale, and a silent auction of various items. The scholarship, which is a one-time award of $1000, is awarded to Deerfield Beach High School seniors and is based on GPA, strength of classes, extracurricular activities, community service and interest in serving in the military.

The scholarship was named after James Suh, a fellow Deerfield Beach High School student and friend of Rask who graduated in 1995. The pair went to the same college, University of Florida, but lost track of each other and Suh received a degree in statistics and trained to become a Navy Seal. The movie “Lone Survivor” is about Suh and his fellow seals… four Navy Seals who were on a failed rescue mission called Operation Red Wings. This is how Suh lost his life in 2005, fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.

But his friends will never forget him. This is why the scholarship was created the year after his death, just a month before their Bucks’ 10 year reunion.

“I funded the first year myself,” said Rask, who is president of the Pompano Exchange Club, who donates $500 yearly as well, adding that he does fundraisers year-round.

Kellie Search volunteered to help Rask this year.

She said, “I knew James since Elementary school. I have been helping collect photos from friends and family for the montage [that showed before movie]. This is the first [fundraiser] I have helped at, but I have attended others.”

Ralph N. Oko came down from Vero Beach to help, bringing his collectibles for sale. He donated 25 percent of his sales back to the scholarship.

“I have been helping since the beginning. James’ friends had the foresight to keep their friend alive in spirit. Who would have thought a book and a movie would be made [about the mission]?”

Paragon Theater was packed and included many military personnel, including the DAV (Disabled American Vets) Post 133 and the Marine Corp League Intracoastal Detachment #1058.

Rask said, “We had close to 200 people show up and raised approximately $4,700. It was also great for many high school friends to catch up, who have not seen each other in years. Paragon Theaters did a great job for us and helped us out with everything we needed!”

Want to donate to scholarship? Send checks to Pompano Beach Exchange Club, Attn: James Suh Memorial Scholarship, PO Box 672, Pompano Beach, FL 33061. The Pompano Beach Exchange Club manages the scholarship fund in a trust and is a 501c3 charitable organization.

To find out more about James career as a Navy Seal, visit http://navyseals.com/nsw/james-suh.

Above–On left: Members of the DAV Post 133. On right: Members of the Marine Corp League Intracoastal #1058.

On left: Dr. Rask, Kellie Search, Kelly Brown, Ralph N. Oko,  Anya Ledic, Marlon Carias

By Gary Curreri

If either Highlands Christian Academy or Zion Lutheran School is going to make a run at the postseason, both local schools will need to get past the top-seeded Westminster Academy in the District 13-1A tournament which began this week.

Highlands Christian Academy coach Darryl Mauro has returned to the sidelines after helping with the team last year. Mauro is in his sixth year at the school and has entered the year at 79-24-11 during that span.

“We are trying to get them to play good soccer,” said Mauro, who previously coached the team from 2004- 09. The Knights are 10-5 this season and in second place behind Westminster Academy in the district. “We only have two or three kids that play more than high school soccer, on travel teams. Our four losses have come against Westminster (one) and three against bigger schools.”

Mauro’s title hopes were bolstered by the return of senior forward Kirvin Moesquit from an early season knee injury. Moesquit, who has an offer to play baseball at the University of Miami, is one of the team’s top offensive threats. He plays shortstop for the school’s baseball team. Senior forward Lucas Almeida provided most of the punch with Moesquit out.

“We missed him,” Mauro said. “It was a major disappointment that he was out because he has a lot of speed. Our guys are starting to click. You have to have that magic dust and they have to show up to play.”

Sophomore defenders Evan Henderson and Elijah Kerr anchor the Knights’ defense and the team is also counting on sophomore midfielder Caleb Bien-Aime, senior goalkeeper Zach Muller and freshman forward Alex Felicetta.

Zion Lutheran coach Kelly Elrod has been at the school for nine years and returned two starters from last year’s team including German Curci (midfielder, sr.) and Noah Craven (defender, sr.). A third starter, the team’s junior goalkeeper, Don-Andrew Hanson broke three bones in his hand in the second to last football game of the season and has been out for the year.

Elrod said senior Frankel Alexis, a first-year soccer player, has filled in admirably for Hanson in goals for the Lions (2-5-4), which opened the tournament against the fifth-seeded South Florida Heat. Results of the tournament were unavailable at press time.

“What (Frankel) has done has been eye-opening,” said Elrod, whose team was 6-9-1 last year. “He has no fear and his communication with the defense is actually getting better. I wish I had him as a freshman. The last game we had against Highlands, he had 14 saves. He’s been a Godsend. He’s physically capable.”

The Lions added three Brazilians, all juniors, including Tiago Santos (central defender), Rodrigo DeOliveira (forward) and Thiago Silva (midfielder), along with freshman Malik Murphy (forward).

“Those guys have definitely helped elevate our game,” Elrod said. “I really want to make a strong, solid run into the playoffs.”

Elrod also singled out the play of defender Noah Craven, German Curci and Courtney Whiteaker, who, along with Noelle Gans, is one of two girls on the team. Whiteaker, a senior, is starting as an outside defender. She was on the girls’ team last year; however, the school wasn’t able to field a girls’ soccer team this year.

“Courtney has been really well accepted,” Elrod said. “Her positioning awareness is very, very good. She’s been solid. I told her I wasn’t going to treat her any differently. Now that she’s starting, nobody has said a peep about it. The guys acknowledge she’s an asset. She and the other girl, Noelle (sophomore), have done well. This is the first time in my nine years there that I have had a girl on the team. They both fit in pretty well.”

By Gary Curreri

Zion Lutheran School junior forward Keith Stone is certainly making up for lost time on the basketball court.

After a strong summer of playing with Nike Team Florida in the AAU Showcase and then playing in the AAU National Championship game on ESPN, Stone has had nearly three dozen NCAA Division I colleges come through to evaluate his talent on the basketball court. Not a bad accomplishment for someone who has been playing basketball for just four years.

“It’s going good,” said Stone, 16, of Deerfield Beach. “It’s slowly happening, but I am glad I am starting to see what my options are.”

Stone, a 6-foot, 7-inch, 225-pound junior forward from Zion Lutheran, scored 32 points to lead the Lions to a come-from-behind, 60-54 victory over Coolidge High of Washington D.C for third place in the Rock Challenge Bracket of the recently concluded Kreul Classic at the Coral Springs City Gymnasium. The Lions are 8-4 on the year.

“I really wasn’t that good before,” said Stone, who played goalkeeper in a recreational soccer league and in baseball before giving basketball a try when he enrolled at Zion Lutheran. “I spent a lot of time in the gym with (Zion Lutheran boys’ basketball coach John Guion) and the other coaches.

“I love everything about basketball, getting up and down the court, shooting, all of that,” added Stone, who also maintains a 3.2 grade point average in the classroom. “I do feel pressure to contribute, but I don’t let it affect my game. I just go out and try my hardest and try and prove everybody wrong.”

Stone said he’s surprised that he is starting to get the attention of colleges, but said he’s also glad his hard work has paid off.

“I couldn’t make a layup, or dribble when I first started,” Stone said. “I have improved my shooting a lot. I figure I’ll play the three (small forward) or the four (power forward) in college.”

Guion said the attention that Stone is getting is also opening the doors for his teammates like Vince Stubbs, a 6- foot, 3-inch junior forward who is also drawing interest at the next level.

“Keith has not missed a workout in three years,” said Guion, who is in his third year as basketball coach and is also the school’s assistant athletic director. “He is the first one to get in the gym and the last one to leave. He’s a doer. He very seldom questions anything that is asked of him. He is new to the game and he understands he has to be more assertive.

“I am not surprised in how well he is doing,” Guion added. “He had decent hands and he is big. His feet weren’t horrible. We started him in the post and he is now playing all five positions. Being able to play multiple positions keeps you on the court longer.”

Guion hopes his team will make a deep run into the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) playoffs this season. He said his team has the potential to do well; however, it needs to gel as a team.

“It’s December, and it’s a process,” Guion said. “I think we have steadily shown progress. The Lions returned all of its starters from last year and will return everyone next year as well.”

Guion said the last two weeks have challenged his team and in the end, they will have to get past Grandview Prep.

“That’s a great team,” Guion said. “They are a big roadblock. I am not concerned with how far we go. I just want everyone to play to their strengths and we’ll throw that in the bucket and be strong.”

The Lions finished last year 22-8 and enjoyed the best season in school history after it won the district championship and reached the Class 2A regional finals where it dropped a 71-48 decision to Westwood Christian. It had been a dozen years since Zion Lutheran had reached the state tournament.

By Rachel Galvin

Within the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino Pavilion, a winter wonderland emerged Dec. 13 and 14. Besides a wintery landscape, 24 vendors provided samples of some of their sweet treats.

Carolers strolled and a band played. Celebrity Chef Keegan Gerhard used humor and skill to demonstrate how to make a Swiss Meringue on Friday. On Saturday, Chef Gale Gand, a James Beard Foundation award-winner, made holiday treats.

The event, with its wealth of desserts and frosty façade, benefits a different charity annually.

This year, it is the Make- A-Wish Foundation. The casino made wishes come true for two families.

Celebrity Chef Keegan Gerhard demonstrated how to make a Swiss Meringue at Seminole Casino Coconut Creek on Dec. 13. The event lasted 2 days.

By Gary Curreri

It’s been quite a winter for Deerfield Beach’s Megan Moroney in the pool.

The 16-year-old won two state titles for St. Andrew’s at the Class 1A state high school championships. She captured the 200-yard freestyle (1:46- .51) for the second consecutive year and the 100-yard butterfly (54.39) for her third consecutive win in the event at state. She was also a member of the silver medal winning 200 and 400-Freestyle relays.

At the recent Winter Championships in Plantation, she was on the winning girls 800-free, 200-free, 400-medley relay and 200-medley relays; won the 100-back and took second in the 1,000 free and 500 freestyle events, in addition to placing second in the 50-fly.

At the state high school meets, she has accumulated five individual golds, a silver and a bronze and captured three relay gold medals, four silvers and three bronze medals.

Moroney recently returned home from the AT&T Winter National Championships in Knoxville, TN at the University of Tennessee where she also turned in some solid performances against some of the top swimmers in the nation.

“I did pretty well. I went a few best times so it was good,” said Moroney, a junior at St. Andrew’s School in Boca Raton.”

Moroney bettered her previous best time by three seconds in the 500-freestyle event when she went 4:59.83 and placed 22nd. Her effort in the 200-free was a little off her best time. She swam 1:47.30 in the prelims and came back with a 1:48 at night (16th place). She also broke the 50-second barrier in her prelim with a 49.96 in the 100. She followed that up with a 50.30 in the evening and took 21st.

“I was happy with my 500 and 100 free because I finally broke the two barriers I’ve been aiming for,” Moroney said. “I can’t be upset with my 200 free because it’s really tough to bounce back from doing a best time at states, but I wish it would have gone better. My 100 back and 200 fly were best times technically speaking, but I know I can go much faster in both. I was definitely tired from everything that was going on before, so, with that in mind, I was very happy overall.”

Moroney has been on the high school team at St. Andrew’s since sixth grade, so this is her sixth year on the squad.

“I just remember in the sixth grade how excited I was just to make it to regionals and I was so thrilled that I made it to states,” Moroney said. “I made it by 10ths of a second, and there was no greater feeling for me back then. I never imagined that this was where I was going to be.”

Moroney also went to the U.S. Olympic trials and hopes to someday represent the United States.

“It could have gone better,” she said. “It was totally different from any meet I had been to before. I had the cut in the 100 back and time trialed in the 400 free and 100 fly. What I learned is that there are so many fast people out there, that it is not just the people in South Florida. I will work really hard to get there.”

Moroney was looking forward to exams at school this week and will take a short family vacation before hitting the pool for more hard training.

By Gary Curreri

Former NFL football player Tyrus McCloud wasn’t sure what to expect last spring when he took over the reins of the Zion Lutheran School football program.

McCloud, who played at Nova High School and went on to play two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, started spring practices with just five athletes. As time passed, he convinced more players to come out and had a 17-player roster this fall, of which nearly half (seven) were middle schoolers. Only six players on the team had played tackle football previously.

McCloud said his first-ever head coaching stint was one of the toughest jobs he’s had, and also opened up to the team stressing his “failures” rather than his successes. Among the transgressions was a drinking problem. He recounted a story where he sat with former Ravens Pro Bowler and future NFL Hall of Famer Ray Lewis one day and Lewis told him he’d stopped drinking because he wanted to become a star player.

Zion Lutheran began the year with two straight losses to Berean Christian, 21-0, and Canterbury (St. Petersburg), 14- 6, before finishing the year on a five-game win streak.

The Lions defeated City of Life Christian Academy (20- 6), Northwest Christian (60-0), Scheck Hillel Community School (38-19), Faith Christian (70-28) and Palmer Trinity (48- 0) as it outscored the opposition, 242-88. It marked the first winning season since 2007 when it went 7-3.

McCloud, 39, of Coral Springs, played linebacker for the University of Louisville Cardinals, was drafted in the fourth round of the 1997 draft with the 22nd pick (118 overall) by Baltimore Ravens. He played in both the 1997-98 seasons with the Ravens and was briefly with the Miami Dolphins in 2001.

Among the other challenges McCloud faced was having two younger inexperienced coaches on staff. McCloud came on board last April for spring practice and called coaching this season was “very intriguing.”

“The biggest transition we had was trying to engage the athletes to get them to maximize the talent,” McCloud said. “We had to give the coaches a vision and then we had the support of the administration.”

McCloud has been the South Florida Field Director for Prison Fellowship Ministries for the past 12 years. The nonprofit organization aims to restore broken bonds between prisoners and their families while protecting their children from following in their footsteps. He had a conversation with Zion Lutheran Athletic Director Mitch Evron, who spoke of challenges with the athletes.

“He said there are some issues socially, economically, spiritually and mentally,” McCloud said. “He said he might have to scrap the program, and I saw it as an opportunity to give these kids a little bit of life and move it forward.”

McCloud also said the players had to overcome fear since they had never played before. McCloud said at one point in the spring, they had 23 players but seven quit because the game was too physical for them.

“That was the identity that was there and we had to put them in position to like the game, have fun and maximize talent,” McCloud said. “That was the hard part of putting the pieces together.”

McCloud said the biggest point he needed to make with his team was drawing on his own weakness. He said it was more than being a finalist for the Butkus Award in college or reaching the NFL.

“I didn’t talk about my strengths, I talked about my weaknesses,” McCloud said. “I spoke of the things I failed at, the things I could have done better at, as it relates to football. Ray Lewis and I were drinking one day as rookies, and Ray was saying how we need to stop. He said he wanted to be a legend and he decided to separate to be better and not keep drinking, and I didn’t do it. I spoke to them about the pain of my past in order for them to really draw into the passion of why we need to play and the focus to move on.”

“It was very humbling to open up like that to the kids, probably beyond humbling,” McCloud added. “A lot of the things I shared with those guys, I never shared with anybody in my life. The only person that knew about that story was me and Ray. I had to do some soul searching. I couldn’t watch them get beat up and defeated. It was therapy for me too because I had to open those scars up. I never even told my wife about it and we’ve been married for 16 years.”

McCloud was the defensive coordinator at Calvary Christian in the spring of 2012 and has been involved as a youth football coach in programs around Broward County. He said the core five kids (Don Andrew Hanson, Chris Judge, Rashad Witty, Ruben Monroe and Josh Forde) who came out last spring were “hoping and believing” that there would be a team and they stayed the course. The players recruited fellow classmates and they were able to field a team and defeated Palmer Trinity, 40-6, in the spring game.

“I think it says a lot.” McCloud said. “We wanted to make it exciting for the school and bring some life to the program,” McCloud said. “They have sent a message to everyone this year. I believe that with the talent in Northern Broward County that Zion can be an elite program in the future.”

“This is going to rank up there with the things I do,” McCloud said. “When I deal with the home school kids, inmates and doing camps … You see the smiles on the faces of the kids. You see the kids at Zion where coaches walked out on the kids in the middle of the season. This will rank in my Top 2.”